#I'm used to being outdoors but the continent seems so full of cities and people that im not quite sure how to do it

[enekorre]

Talked with my boss today about maybe taking a month during summer to go vanlifeing and working remotely

She seemed totally okay with it, so I'm slowly getting my hopes up (and looking for a good van)

[kazlifeadventures]

Iceland!

Warning - lots of facts and alot of gushing to come for this amazing country... and I've had to split it up because I saw and did so much. But first:

Oh my - suitcase joy!

I surprised myself with  how  chill I was about my suitcase not making an appearance at the airport in Keflavik. Not surprised as it was a very short transit in Copenhagen, so a part of me knew that there was a chance that would happen. As a person who has worked predominately within the service industry it is always interesting to aee the different reactions of the customers and the responses it generates in the staff.  My lovely lady guatanteed me that I'd be first delivery of the next day as my tour waa was due to depart at 9am. I was not entirely impressed in what seemed to be the disorganisation of the buses from Keflavik airport. Waiting in a queue for another 40 mins for the  1 hr or so trip to Reykjavik doesn't help when you are tired from travelling most of the day! I'm not sure if they were surprised by an influx of tourists for the new year period, there were heaps of us though! I finally made it to my hotel, with my little pouch of 'sorry we misplaced your suitcase' stuff. Found food, and a beer walking distance from the hotel, then sleeeeep! I'd booked a harbour northern lights cruise as an extra for my first night, but the rain and clouds meant it was cancelled.. bummer, but also good, as it meant an early night.

The tour I booked was a new tour, a 4 night 5 day New Year Northern lights adventure. We were late departing. And it wasn't my suitcases' fault. Luckily our tour leader is awesome. He rang the company for me and got the details of the driver,  rang him and arranged for my case ro be waiting at the first stop of the day. One very happy Kaz! Especially as it was raining and I was wondering how on earth I'd get everything dry as I'd spent a good couple hours the night before rotating my smalls on the tiny heater in my room.

We had a smaller earthquake in the early hours of first morning (30thDec) at about 4am. I woke up to a bit of a shake, then went back to sleep! Earthquakes are very common here as Iceland is literally on the join of tectonic plates and has multiple active volcanoes as well. It's like one big bubbling hotpot with constantly changing walls...

The country is only a relatively new one when compared to everywhere else (both in land age and being populated/economic development),  it has seen many of it's advancements in growth over the past 100 years or so. Iceland has a very small population of about 354000, and alot are direct descendants of the Vikings. Our guide, Baldir (no idea of spelling) told us he can trace his history to the first settlers 20 generations ago, and the city has a statue of his 20th cousin Leifur Eiríksson. To me having that level of descendancy in one location is simply amazing.

Before we set off out of Reykjavik we did a quick tour of some of the city's highlights.

The Harpa - suitcase arrival zone (did I say I was happy!) What a beautiful building! Its an amazing concert hall opened in 2011 featuring a distinctive colored glass facade that was inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland. The lights that are set into the glass change colours constantly adding to the intrigue.

Next up was the Perlan ('The Pearl') a museum and rotating glass dome restaurant (more to come on the restaurant later!), that has been built on top of six huge water tanks  that store 24 million litres of Reykjavík's hot water on top of Öskjuhlíð Hill. Surrounded by trees it is one of the capital's most distinctive landmarks. Oh, and there is a 360° outdoor viewing platform with stunning views across Reykjavik, even on a freezing cold wet windy day... We drove past the beautiful Hallgrímskirkja the 74.5m high Lutheran church, so tall that it's tower can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.

After lunch at a gorgeous little lighthouse restaurant in the old fishing area of Grindavík we headed out to the 'Bridge between continents' at Sandvík. It is a small pedestrian bridge over a major fissure showing clear evidence of the presence of a diverging plate margin. It is often referred to as a symbol for the connection between Europe and North America. By this stage it was so windy rainy cold that it felt like being pelted with ice! Everyone's clothing that was not weatherproof was soaked. So it didn't matter much when we then headed to the South west coast peninsula of Reykjanes. The diverse landscapes of this country are astounding. The previous eruption areas of black rock, no vegetation, no water that extend for klms. The huge bodies of water, the lack of trees, the rock formations of the ever changing coastlines. This area, although wet, super windy and cold at the time we came, was absolutely stunning.

All too soon we were hauling our wet butts into the blue lagoon. There is a marvelous story of Gunda a lady who died near the hot springs. The Icelanders have many stories/fables and are a very superstitious bunch as well!

The lagoon itself is a big environmental mistake. Its the outcome of the waste water disposal from the geothermal power plant that operates in the middle of the lava field. In 1976 a pool formed with strange colour at the site, and in 1981, people started bathing in it after its supposed healing powers were popularised. In 1992, the Blue Lagoon company was established, and the bathing facility was opened for the public.

Sometimes it just works to say: Stunning! Freezing. Got beer and a face mask and blissed my way around finding the hotspots. Was still lightly raining, windy, but glorious. Not too busy, I had heard it gets terribly full of tourists and was happy that it was only the locker rooms where there was an overload of people. I totally Showered like a European in the open shower area (winning!! - how far have I come!!) Iceland has many many public pools (it has hot water everywhere!!) But the blue lagoon is the big touristy thing, and I'm so glad my suitcase arrived otherwise I may have missed out (my swimsuit was in it). I did find out that you can hire swimsuits there but...hmmm glad I didn't have to! I don't have any photos as the weather meant it wasn't worth it. One of the tour guys took a photo of myself and Christine (one of my new friends), in the lagoon, classic tourist shot, but that's it, the memories are enough!

I Loved it. What a magnificent experience even putting my wet clothes back on couldn't dampen my mood.

What a day! Off to Hella, to our Arhus cabins on the Ranga river. No northern lights tonight though - too much cloud rain and oh my...the winds were nuts. Got some new friends, and a huge day tomorrow.

More to come!